Battle Along the Riverbank ETO (id:#60270)

(HASL 7 - Valor of the Guards ID: VotG CG III)   [next]   [previous]

Central Stalingrad 1942-09-23 (6 others)

Overview:

The German attack of 21-22 September left Rodimtsev’s 13th Guards Division in a very precarious position. Infanterie Division 71 had captured the main ferry landing and isolated the 42nd and 92nd Brigades south of the Tsaritsa River; they had also encircled the remnants of the 1/42 Guards Regiment in several small pockets, at the Stalingrad-1 Rail Station, the Nail Factory and another strongpoint just east of Red Square. The few remaining elements of the 272nd NKVD Regiment were also surrounded in the park just to the south of the Rail Station. The left wing of the 13th Guards Division had been shattered, and the remaining units had withdrawn slightly to the north of the main ferry landing. The 13th Guards now occupied a thin stretch of land along the riverbank, and its regiments had suffered heavy losses. There was now a real danger that the assault troops of Infanterie Division 71 would drive northward and force the 13th Guards away from the shoreline and isolate it from the remainder of the 62nd Army. To prevent a collapse of the 13th Guards, General Chuikov decided to utilize elements of the newly arrived 284th “Siberian” Rifle Division to bolster their positions and conduct a counterattack. Chuikov ordered Col. Batyuk, the commander of the 284th Division, to thrust south along the Volga shore, recapture the main ferry landing and re-establish contact with the cutoff 42nd and 92nd Brigades. He also ordered the 685th Regiment of Smekhotvorov’s 193rd Rifle Division to begin crossing the Volga and reinforce Rodimtsev’s Division. The attack by the 284th Division began at 1000 hours on the morning of September 23rd, and as Batyuk’s Siberians pushed southward along the shore they ran headlong into the German assault as it began its drive north-ward along the bank of the Volga.

Defender: Russian (13th Guards Rifle Division and 284th "Siberian" Rifle Division/HQ Staff with 272nd NKVD Regiment/1st Battalion, 42nd Guards Regiment)  

Errata (source)